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Saudi Tweep Escapes

Hamza Kashgari, a young journalist has caused a wide anger among Saudis when tweeting on the Mawlid (the Holy Prophet’s birthday). His tweets included his opinions about the prophet, how he’s equal to him and how he hated some of his characteristics.Many Saudis were outraged and started a hashtag #hamzahKashghri where they’ve accused him of blasphemy, atheism and apostasy; some asked for his head. Moreover, Some prominent sheikhs like al awdah and others were furious and demanded for his punishment. Others filed for a law suit against him which made the Minister of Information ban him from writing in Saudi Arabia.Hamza has apologized on his account and even issued an official apology where he acknowledged his mistake and how he hadn’t meant it the way it came out but it wasn’t accepted. While many have defended him after his apology and said it was a misunderstanding, the majority still wouldn’t forgive him and demanded for his prosecution. It was reported that he has escaped to a Southeast Asian country after issuing a court order against him.

Hamza Kashgari, a young journalist, was banned from writing in Saudi Arabia by the Saudi Minister of Information and has reportedly been forced to flee after being accused of blasphemy, atheism, and apostasy and following calls for his head.

His crime? Tweeting about Mohammad, Islam’s prophet, including about how he’s equal to him and how he hates some of Mohammad’s characteristics… (Only some?)

The Saudi Minister of Information ‘wept’ upon reading Hamza’s tweets ‘offending’ the prophet (and not as you might expect when he heard that someone must flee for his life for merely tweeting and despite having had to apologise)…

And, dear readers, this is why we’re defending free expression on 11 February – for the likes of Hamza Kashgari.

January 23, 2012 at 4:35 pm Maryam NamazieThe One Law for All 11 February rally for Free Expression is being held in London from 14:00-16:00 hours at the Old Palace Yard opposite the House of Lords. [Here is leaflet for download and distribution.]

The call for action follows an increased number of attacks on free expression in the UK, including a 17 year old Rhys Morgan being forced to remove a Jesus and Mo cartoon or face expulsion from his Sixth Form College and demands by the UCL Union that the Atheist society remove a Jesus and Mo cartoon from its Facebook page. It also follows threats of violence, police being called, and the cancellation of a meeting at Queen Mary College where One Law for All spokesperson Anne Marie Waters was to deliver a speech on Sharia.

The Day of Action has already been endorsed by nearly 100 groups and individuals including Jessica Ahlquist, Centre for Secular Spaces, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, Richard Dawkins, Equal Rights Now, Jesus and Mo Creator, Taslima Nasrin, National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies, National Secular Society, Salman Rushdie, Southall Black Sisters, and Peter Tatchell. To see the list and add your own, click here.

Moreover, One Law for All and the National Secular Society are following up on the incident at which a One Law for All meeting was cancelled at Queen Mary after death threats. Tower Hamlets police said this morning that investigations in to the incident are on-going. They are working with university security and examining CCTV in attempts to identify the offender. They have also offered a police presence when the speech is rescheduled. We reported that the person making the threats had been seen again at the Francis Bancroft building on Wednesday 17. Furthermore, Dominic Bell, Vice President of the Student Union at University of London, said that his union is ‘committed to freedom of speech’ and would aim to improve the quality of security at their events. He said the union is ‘working on improving our monitoring and assessment of risk and [he] will be meeting the Director of Student and Campus Services and the Head of Security more frequently to go through this’.

In addition to the London, there will be actions and acts of solidarity in other cities, including Australia, France, Gambia, Germany and Poland. To see the list or to add your own action or event, click here.

Clearly, the time has come to take a firm and uncompromising stand for free expression and against all forms of threats and censorship.

The right to criticise religion is a fundamental right that is crucial to many, including Muslims.

11 February is our chance to take that stand.

You need to be there.

Enough is enough.

For more information, and details of the Day of Action, visit One Law for All.BM Box 2387London WC1N 3XX, UKTel: +44 (0) 7719166731onelawforall@gmail.com

To commemorate the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday last week, Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old Saudi writer, tweeted some unorthodox compliments about the prophet. Cue shitstorm:

Twitter quickly flooded with responses to Kashgari, registering more than 30,000 within a day. He was accused of blasphemy, and enraged Saudis called for his death. By the time he removed the tweets and issued a long apology, backtracking on his comments and begging for forgiveness, the danger had already expanded beyond the Web. Someone posted Kashgari’s home address in a YouTube video, and, his friends say, vigilantes came looking for him at his local mosque.

Then the Saudi government stepped in - to target Kashgari as well. Mike Giglio's piece is worth reading in full.